The Southern Gateway
Expanding the WW&F
Announcing the Southern Gateway
The Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum has set its sights on reconstructing The Southern Gateway – 1/4 miles of main line track south of Sheepscot Station. While logistics, permitting and specifics aren’t yet sufficiently detailed, we are ecstatic to finally share the next great expansion goal for our storied WW&F Railway Museum.
For the past 36 years our organization has toiled away at reconstructing our railroad on the original grade of the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway here in Alna. Our rebuilt 3½-mile portion of the Sheepscot Valley Narrow Gauge includes three original station sites—Sheepscot Station, Alna Center Station and Alna Station—as well as “The Mountain” which, peaking at 4 percent, was the steepest grade on the 60 miles of the historic railway. In 3½ miles, we have four major stations and have fostered numerous community partnerships. Our shop facilities at Sheepscot Station are hosting ambitious and complex projects including constructing a new steam locomotive, a new coach, a new brake system and more from scratch. We’re so proud of what our dedicated team of volunteers and supporters has accomplished, rebuilding and preserving Maine’s narrow gauge heritage.
Our three and a half miles of railroad has brought us to public roadways at each end—the town of Alna’s Cross Road at Sheepscot Station at the south end, and the State of Maine’s Route 218 at the north end. A question often asked as we built toward Route 218: “What will be next?” Build south, north, or not at all? At times this was a hotly debated topic, garnering passionate opinions from our league of supporters and followers.
In order to develop a well-conceived answer, we established some prerequisite concepts. First, we know that following the opening of the Mountain Extension in 2022, we needed a several-year break from major extensions in order to refine our track maintenance regimen. We are making great headway in this regard, with the conclusion of a major campaign to improve our maintenance-of-way equipment, thanks in large part to the Candelaria Fund and the Bring Trains to Maine Up From Africa fund drive campaign. This improvement saw the addition of our new Kubota excavator, the custom design and construction of “X-Cart” 1018, as well as the acquisition of two South African Railways ballast hoppers.
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, we have learned to recognize the need for tempered, thoughtful growth which serves specific organizational needs. We established that our ultimate goal is sustainability, whereby we create an institution which becomes multi-generational, lasting well beyond our own time. As related to further expansion, understanding the end goal is paramount; the sum total of all the infrastructure we plan, including length of main track, maintenance and construction facilities, public facilities, etc., must generate the income necessary to comfortably maintain itself.
Understanding the Challenge
The goal of adding 1/4 mile of mainline track south of Sheepscot station presents enormous challenges which cannot be overstated. We have begun to address these issues, which are multifaceted and complex. Environmental permitting will be required from multiple agencies. Permissions to cross the public Cross Road will be sought from the Town of Alna and the State of Maine. Crossing that road will place our railroad under the jurisdiction of the Federal Railroad Administration, which in itself involves many different aspects, as we will be expected to comply with multiple federal regulations.
We have been preparing for these challenges for many years—having honed our rulebook and operating practices toward FRA compliance; having studied and strategized approaches for our environmental permit applications; and starting conversations with representatives of key regulatory agencies. The applications will be numerous, with intricate timing connecting them, and with success for each application not guaranteed. We wish to build trusted relationships with our regulators; sometimes that means accepting redirection.
Funding the Southern Gateway will be a tremendous challenge, to be sure; however, we intend to remain true to form by stretching our donors’ dollars through wise investment and careful planning. While we are not yet formalizing any Southern Gateway financial challenge for our members, we are working to develop an effective funding campaign which respects our membership’s longstanding trust in our financial stewardship.
Pacing Ourselves
We have learned this concept well: work at the rate of available labor and financial resources. The dream of a possible extension to the Wiscasset border is vast and complex, by our standards. We must consider such a concept as a series of distinct projects, and focus on one project at a time.
Crossing Cross Road: The Southern Gateway
The first project on the route towards Wiscasset is to seek permissions to cross Cross Road and construct quarter-mile of railroad south on original roadbed. We began the permitting process this year by presenting an informal outline of this project to the Town of Alna Planning Board. Ultimately the following permits and permissions will be sought:
- Town of Alna: Shoreland Zoning Permit, Flood Plain Permit, Site Plan Revision.
- Maine Department of Transportation: Permission to cross a Town Way.
- Maine Department of Environmental Protection: Individual Permit for reconstruction of railroad adjacent a protected natural resource.
- Federal Railroad Administration: Compliance with numerous regulations as determined by the FRA to be applicable to our railroad upon crossing a public way.
- Army Corps of Engineers: Proximity to US waterways.
The timing of these permits will be interdependent. As we prepare for a discourse with each licensing authority, we expect it to take some time for all the permissions to be in place. It is only appropriate to go in as prepared as possible but retaining an appropriate amount of humility.
We expect major fundraising in the fall of 2026 for the crossing of Cross Road and the subsequent quarter-mile of track construction. Construction itself would likely be in 2027 and 2028. (Plan now to attend the upcoming work weekends!)
Crossing Cross Road represents much more than a down payment on long-term goals. There will be an immediate positive impact on our operations, permitting safer access to the Sheepscot platform by passenger trains, allowing for multiple train operation with fewer yard moves, improving sight lines to the platform, and offering greatly augmented usage of the runaround track at Sheepscot Station.
South Alna Station
The Southern Gateway is the first part of a larger plan to eventually construct a new passenger station where public trains will originate and terminate.
Establishing a passenger station in the south end of the town of Alna has several key benefits:
- A terminus 2 miles closer to the U.S. Route 1 corridor—the major transportation artery for Midcoast Maine.
- A site which is a “blank slate” from which an ideal passenger facility can be designed and constructed. This is in stark contrast to Sheepscot Station, which was necessarily designed in fits and starts over the years as the site grew.
- Two additional miles of reconstructed WW&F Railway—the core tenet of our Museum’s mission.
Over the past two years, the WW&F Railway Museum has sought to acquire several pieces of property which would be key to this plan. The Museum has succeeded in purchasing two large “back lots” which are necessary to form a railroad right-of-way where we do not otherwise have access. Three additional pieces are required to complete this right of way access. We are in various states of negotiation with three landowners for these purposes. An acquisition for a station site with 650 feet of frontage along Route 218 is under agreement.
Our land purchases to date have been thoughtful and measured. We have been willing to pay fair market value for these lands and have avoided taking on any additional debt as we have used funds from our reserves for the purchases. We have maintained a clear view of this process; by ensuring our purchases are at a fair market value, we are investing our reserves in real estate instead of a savings account. It so happens that the real estate in which we are investing could also serve as a critical link in our future plans but, in the event that our plans do not come to pass, those land purchases can be sold and the reserves account restored.
Milestones
Our Museum has had many milestones over our years in Alna. The first track switch built, Alna Center Station, locomotive No. 9 steaming, the Mountain Extension—we have many moments to be proud of. As milestones go, crossing Cross Road is one for the ages. Our founder, Harry Percival, spoke of a train traveling from out of sight north of Sheepscot Station to out of sight south of Sheepscot Station on February 20, 1995, on the 100th anniversary of the first through train from Albion. He painted two white lines on the Cross Road pavement to represent two foot gauge rails. As with many aspects of the WW&F, Harry set the tone and tenor which still carries on. We have spent many years studying and preparing for this step. We—and that includes you, our members and supporters—have performed amazing feats in rail preservation together, right here in the small town of Alna, Maine. It’s time to sound two longs, a short and a long, and answer the age old question of “why did the narrow gauge train cross the road?”